ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Canadian Junior National Baseball Team began spring training on Thursday and for shortstop Adam Hall it’s the next stop on an impressive baseball journey.

The 17-year-old began playing baseball as a youngster in Bermuda and at the age of 12, his parents sent him to live with family in London, Ont. where his father was born, to improve his game.

Hall said: “The level of play (in Canada) was a huge difference. For me, Bermuda is basically house league baseball. There’s not much there, and then, coming (to Canada) and playing AAA baseball, it was a lot different level, but I didn’t find the transition too different.”

This is abundantly clear as Hall has continued to play on teams above his age level and has excelled in every league he’s been in. He made a name for himself as a 15-year-old at the Tournament 12, hosted by the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre, showing off his rare combination of speed and power and set the second-fastest 60-yard dash time at 6.57 sec.

Whether it has been with the Great Lakes Canadians U18 team that he joined at 14 years old or now with the Junior National team, the future Texas A&M player relishes the opportunity to be one of the younger players.

“I find it takes the pressure off of you when you’re the young guy,” he said. “The pressure is on the older guys, so you can play without pressure, which is always nice. It kind of gives you a good vision of what you have to accomplish by that point.”

Hall will get a good vision of what the future may hold during spring training, as the junior nationals will be facing minor league players from pro baseball organizations and on March 17, a Blue Jays split squad, that will include some players on the MLB roster.

Hall added: “It’ll be pretty cool to play against the Jays and see a couple major league guys and see what they do and their routines and everyday kind of things.”

Canada will also play the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays between March 10-20. Hall’s on-field abilities give him the potential to end up in any of these destinations, and continue his impressive baseball journey.